1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a vehicle body reinforcement devices for vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to such devices that can improve ride comfort while reducing vibrations generated by reinforcement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been a practice of using retrofit reinforcement members, such as the members disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,311 (hereinafter simply referred to as Patent Document 1) to increase the strength of the vehicle body frame based upon driving conditions and driver's preference. The reinforcement member disclosed in the Patent Document 1 is formed in an elongated shape and is located in the engine compartment.
This reinforcement member is attached to the upper ends of a pair of right and left suspension towers of the vehicle body frame to interconnect the suspension towers. Therefore, the reinforcement member reinforces the vehicle body against lateral forces applied by the upper ends of front suspension shock absorbers to the vehicle body.
The conventional reinforcement members described above, when compressed under loading and released immediately after loading, might generate vibration and deteriorate ride comfort. In order to reduce the likelihood of the generation of such vibration, occasionally damping force producing means such as a hydraulic damper or a rubber member is interposed in the middle of longitudinal direction as disclosed in JP-A-2002-211437 (hereinafter simply referred to as Patent Document 2).
Further, in order to reduce the likelihood of vibration while reinforcing the vehicle body, configurations such as those disclosed in German Patent DE10247492-A1 (hereinafter simply referred to as Patent Document 3) have been used. Patent Document 3 uses the frame member itself, such as the body shell and frame of the vehicle, to reduce the likelihood of vibration generation. The damping force producing means shown in Patent Document 3 uses two elongated frame members that are interconnected by a gap filled with viscoelasticity plastics.
The frame members that both reinforce and reduce vibration are directed in differing directions on the floor of the passenger compartment. In other words, they are provided so that their longitudinal directions are in: the lateral direction of the vehicle, the oblique direction extending from the right front side to the left rear side of the vehicle body, and the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body.